Ouimet
I recently watched a movie entitled “The Greatest Game Ever Played” which is an absorbing and inspiring true-life story of a young amateur working-class Golfer, named Francis Ouimet.
The name Ouimet brought back memories of another Ouimet, only his name was Louis Ouimet. Louis Ouimet was a relic of the past because he sold men’s hats and operated an entire department for the Harry Coffee retail store in down-town Fresno. I worked with Louis after school while I was in the 10th or 11th grade at Fresno High School. My job was to organize the hat section according to sizes and to dust off the hats and other odd jobs pertaining to men’s hats.
The time was 1947-48 and most men wore hats to work or other places as a sign of the then existing custom. It was great fun working with Louis because I had taken French in junior high school and often tried to practice my broken French with Louis. I realize that my next statement seems a little politically incorrect but when I did try to speak with Louis, he replied “where did I get my Jewish accent when speaking French.” His statement always amused me and puzzled me since I knew very few Jewish friends that ever spoke French to me. Louis is deceased now but knowing him was something that I will always cherish and when I tell young people about working in a men’s hat department, they can hardly believe me.
I also worked at Christmas time as a temp salesman and met some fantastic men that owned and ran Harry Coffee’s: Roy Pahlig, Merle Ginsburg, Leonard Gross, Mr. Tokey and others that I can’t remember. The store had a greeter for the customers as they entered the store and they ran a first class operation.
Gary E. Marsella